Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
AHKEEM
Witnessing my wife go through all her emotions further proved why I loved her the way I did.
I never saw her as vulnerable as she was while she recovered and went through the ups and downs of our miscarriage.
Unlike what I expected, Jazzlyn actually took her time with everything.
Some days, she was happy and ready to take on the world.
Other days, all she wanted to do was lay in bed and cry.
“Come on! Last set!” I encouraged her with a smack to her ass.
We were in the gym putting in work. She had eased back into working out.
Then one day, something just flipped, and she went into beast mode and was hitting the gym twice a day instead of her usual three times a week.
I wasn’t about to let her leave me in the dust, so I stepped my shit up too.
I knew she was working out to cope, and honestly, I wasn’t mad at it.
The shit was better than trying to drink or smoke the pain away.
“Fuck you, Ahkeem,” she gritted as she did her last set of weighted bar squats.
Once she closed the set, I placed the weight back on the bar for her. “I love you too, Lovey.”
I passed her a water bottle, and she chugged it down just like I did. Both of us were beat after working out for two hours. I took a seat on the weight bench, and she followed up by sitting directly in my lap.
“You comfortable?”
She nodded proudly. “My favorite spot.”
I kissed her cheek before wrapping my arms around her. “I love you, sweaty and smelly.”
“I am not smelly!”
“Ripe like an onion.”
“Ahkeem!” she whined before sniffing her armpits.
“I’m bullshitting you.” I stopped her from getting up from my lap. “How you feeling?”
She shrugged. “Better. Taking it day by day. How are you feeling?”
“Like I gotta keep my eyes on you around the clock. Shit kinda hard to let you move how you wanna move. I know you itching to get back out there, but shit don’t feel right.”
Since returning from the hospital, Jazzy hadn’t gotten out much, and that was honestly my doing.
Whatever she asked for, I made it come straight to the penthouse.
Her hair stylist, her nail tech, and her lash artist rolled through the crib a few days ago and gave her the pick-me-up she needed.
I even had the jeweler slide through to get her a new wedding ring and chain to replace the ones them motherfuckas’ took from her.
Whatever she craved, I had Talia cheffing it up in the kitchen, and I even encouraged her to do some online shopping.
Truth was, I wanted to wrap her ass up in bubble wrap and never let her out my fucking sight.
She hadn’t complained about feeling like I was suffocating her yet, but I knew that shit would be coming soon.
“I’m getting better, Ahk. My stitches are starting to dissolve.” She pointed to the stitched-up cut on her forehead. My baby ain’t play about her face, so she had been worried about it since Seven did her stitches.
“It is looking good. What about the baby, though, Lovey?”
Her eyes lowered down to her hands. She took a moment to deliberate with herself in her mind before she shrugged her shoulders. “Physically, my body feels normal. Mentally, I keep thinking about the what ifs. You know?”
“I feel you. I think about that shit too. We finally got on the same page, and shit went left.” I shook my head. “I don’t want you thinking we gotta jump back into trying. Whatever you wanna do, I’m cool. I just want you happy.”
She wrapped her arms around me before pecking my lips. “When I’m ready, I’ll let you know, Pa. I promise.”
“Take however long you need.”
We got cleaned up together in the shower.
Once we stepped out, I noticed she was standing in the mirror with her towel down.
She had bruises and cuts all over her. I wouldn’t say my baby was vain, but she was really in tune with her looks, so the aftermath of the crash and kidnapping was fucking with her.
I came up behind her and wrapped my arms around her.
“You know what I’m looking at right now?”
“What?”
“The most beautiful woman in this world. The one who makes my heart skip beats. Whenever she steps in the room, heads fucking turn. Not because of the Birkin bag she rocks or the ten-carat diamond ring her man put on her finger. It’s her energy, the light she possesses.
It ain’t on her… it’s in her. She’s Jazzlyn-fucking-Hendrix. My wife.”
Speaking life into her was so fucking important.
She had some fucked-up shit happen to her back-to-back, so she was in this headspace where she didn’t feel like herself, only a shell of herself.
I wanted to assure her that no matter what she went through—the cuts, the bruises, the loss of the baby—she was still the same Jazzy I first laid my eyes on at the storage unit.
“Even with this big-ass scar on my forehead and this bruise on my side?”
“I don’t see that shit. I see you whooping that nutty bitch’s ass after you were in a wreck. I see you standing in strength and choosing to put your best foot forward after we lost our baby we made with love. You’re more than what meets the eye, Lovey. I told you that shit in my vows.”
“Thank you for always seeing me. You make me feel so loved, it feels surreal.” She smiled as I nestled my head into the crook of her neck.
I kissed her neck, trailing my kisses up to her jawline. “You make me feel like that day in and day out. Only right I make you feel the same.” Her face tinted red as her cheek bones rose higher. “I got a surprise for you. You gotta promise you gone take it easy, though.”
I eyed her through the mirror with my brow raised since I knew she was gonna test me no matter what promise she made. Excitement sparked within her eyes as she turned around to face me. “What is it?”
“Kross coming out here, and he wants to look at a few potential spots for Bar Remedy. Now the timing ain’t the best, but I figured you ain’t wanna miss out on the opportunity.”
“Baby! You for real?”
“Dead ass. He touch down tomorrow. I told him I’ll run it by you to see if you ready for it.”
“What? Of course I’m ready for it,” she scoffed as if she couldn’t believe I was questioning her. “I had my eye on a spot down in Manhattan, but it was just too close to Reign, so I passed up on it. It’ll be perfect for Bar Remedy. I’ll give the realtor a call.”
She grabbed up her towel, quickly wrapping it around her so she could go get dressed and make her phone call. I stopped her with a sigh. “Don’t get carried away, Lovey, please.”
“Ahkeem, I won’t. I promise.”
I dropped a kiss on her forehead next to her stitches before letting her go.
The next day, as promised, Kross touched down, and it was only right I welcomed them into the city. He brought Remedy with him, and she was excited to get with Jazzlyn and do some shopping. My baby needed some girl time, so I wasn’t against it.
“I ain’t been in New York in a little minute.” Kross dapped me up.
“Shit, welcome back, son. Whatever you need. I got you.”
Remedy pulled Jazzlyn into a hug, rocking side to side. Despite them not knowing each other for long, they hit it off well, and their friendship was budding.
“Girl, you alright? I heard about what happened.”
“I’m fine, Rem. I swear.”
“Small shit to a giant, right?” Kross smirked as he asked Jazzy.
She nodded confidently. “Exactly!”
“These cuts and bruises are gonna heal fast. I have some fade cream that I used, and now you can’t even see mine.”
Kross told me about what happened to his wife.
She went missing for a few months because her pussy-ass ex held her captive up in Chicago.
Kross gave me some pointers on how to navigate things with Jazzlyn, which I appreciated.
I couldn’t imagine being without Jazzlyn for months and not knowing where she was.
Kross was strong as fuck for holding shit together ‘cause I would’ve definitely dived off the deep end.
Just those couple of hours of not knowing where she was and how to get to her had me ready to lose it all.
“Thank you, girl, ‘cause I can’t keep walking around like this fucked-up arts and crafts project.”
“Jazzlyn, stop. You look good. Better than the motherfucka’ who did it to you.”
“More alive too,” Kross added after his wife, prompting us all to laugh.
I tossed Kross some keys, and he smirked. He hit the buttons, and it lit up the Rolls Royce Cullinan parked directly behind my car. “Courtesy of Hendrix Auto for your time in the city. Don’t fuck up my shit now.”
He laughed while dapping me up. “Shit, I’ll try not to. This shit clean as hell. Might just take it off your hands, Ahk.”
“You know I’m good for it. Cut you a little deal ‘cause you family.”
Remedy smacked her lips. “K, you do not need another car. We’re running out of damn space in the garage and driveway.”
“You be running out of space in that closet but still find a way to squeeze a new bag in it. I’ll figure it out.”
“Let him get the car. Just run up the card for the same amount,” Jazzy said to Remedy who nodded her head as if it was the best idea she’d heard yet.
Kross and I eyed both of our wives before shaking our heads at them. “See, maybe we should’ve thought this shit through and kept y’all shopaholics away from each other.”
Jazzlyn waved me off. “Ahkeem, hush. We deserve to treat ourselves.”
After their flight, we figured it was best to get us some food. Kross trailed us through traffic until we reached Priest’s restaurant, La Lealtá. We hadn’t rolled through there in a little minute, but I was feening for some of their calamari.
Soon as we stepped foot in the restaurant, we were prioritized and taken straight to our usual section.
It was ducked off in the back and was reserved solely for Priest and his family whenever we chose to dine in.
When we were settled with drinks and appetizers, the ladies got wrapped up in conversation about some purse they were going to be on the hunt for while Remedy was in the city, allowing Kross and me to chop it up about business.
“Got eyes on ya boy in that hospital. The nigga fucked up in there. Apparently, you did pop the nigga,” Kross revealed.
“Word? Nigga can’t be too fucked up if he ordering motherfuckas to kidnap my fucking wife.”
“Same shit I said. One of the bullets hit him in the stomach, so he been in and out for surgery for that shit. Nigga having complications and shitting in a bag now.”
I threw my head back in laughter. Silas was down bad.
I hit majority of his traps and was planning on shutting down the traffic to the rest of them.
His money was drying out, I took his fucking product, and now he had to shit in a bag.
If that motherfucka’ thought I was through with him, he thought fucking wrong.
As low as shitting in a bag may have made him feel, I needed the nigga to die.
Going after Jazzlyn was him begging to be put six feet under.
His bullshit plan caused us to lose our baby, and I was never going to let up off him until I cut his life short.
“We gotta make our move fast.”
I nodded. “Facts. You out here for a little minute to handle business with Jazzy. I’m gone fly back with y’all so I can end this shit with Freddy Kreuger once and for all.
Not gone give him the chance to touch back down in the city.
I fucked up by being nice and fucking considerate once.
I’m not doing that shit again. From now on, every fucking dollar made on a block out here is mine.
Shit went too far the minute they put they hands on my heart. ”
My eyes trailed over to Jazzlyn, and they filled with so much admiration and love.
She was the strongest woman I knew, but I didn’t want her to think she had to constantly live up to that.
Her strength was an added layer of who she was as my wife, not her entirety.
I wanted her to be soft and feel protected.
In order to do that, I needed to dead that bitch-ass nigga who thought he cheated death ‘cause he was laying up in a hospital bed.
Kross extended his hand to me, and we dapped up. “I’ll tap with my people, and we’ll make the move.”
“‘Preciate it, K.”